A look
by natida
Summary: Short one-shot based on "The Daughter of the River God", set in tLWW. Peter and Sairah see each other for the first time.


**A/N: This is a one-shot that accompanies "The Daughter of the River God". I think readers of that fanfic will appreciate this one more, but you don't **_**have**_** to read it…though I highly suggest you do. And review. xD**

**I hate to admit that when writing this I had the image of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" the **_**movie**_** in mind…oh well. It's William Moseley's fault. Lol.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. C.S. Lewis does.**

It starts with a look.

It's the way she looks at him, the expression on her face, like she understands him and feels his pain. It's the slightly contemplative gaze that catches his attention.

Peter has never known love before. Not real love; he's had his fair share of crushes in the past, from Madeline Bell to Adriana Parker, but not real love.

And Sairah has never had anyone to love before. The daughter of the River God needs more than a simple mortal, though she may not be aware of it. In fact, she never saw the need or imagined a day in which she would feel love for one of the creatures she had always found so curiously foolish.

When he sees her for the first time, Peter barely gives her a second glance. It's at the Stone Table, when they present themselves before the entire community of hopeful Narnians, and his wide eyes betray his determination and his fear.

Peter is afraid that he isn't enough.

Sairah realizes that the second she sees him. Centuries of experience bring on a certain awareness of human emotions. She was always very matter-of-fact about these matters. And in truth, Peter is not _quite_ enough, physically speaking. When the Four where mentioned in the tales, the image they all had, even the naiads, was that of a strong, tall man who would come with a sword in hand to save Narnia.

But she knows, also, that Peter Pevensie is so much more than any of them ever dreamed.

It's in his look. It's in the way he looks at all of them with a determination that is almost tangible. It's in the pursed lips and the brave, set jaw. And it's in the curiosity and the wonder, in the way in which his eyes gleam with appreciation as he realizes that _this is where he belongs_. And that he was always meant to be here.

Along with the others, she sees Susan and Lucy Pevensie, and notices the worrisome absence of a fourth. But her eyes remain focused on Peter as he walks towards Aslan, and something she doesn't know quite how to describe grows within her.

It isn't love, of course. But it is a certain level of intrigue.

Peter only truly notices her when Aslan is gone and Lucy and Susan are speaking quietly under a tree, surrounded by many creatures. Many eyes are watching him, he knows, and in the back of his mind he is aware that in a few seconds he will also be surrounded by them. In that split second, however, his eyes meet Sairah's, as she stands a little way off among the naiads of the river.

She doesn't smile, she doesn't glare. She simply watches him. And there is something so _real _about her, yet so inhuman and so impossibly fantasy-like that he gazes back.

He is surprised by the darkness of her eyes, like the depths of a river full of magic; something wild and unknown…yet something that strangely understands him. He doesn't know her name, but his eyes stay fixed on hers for a few seconds before he turns away, his heart beating a bit faster than it had before.

As he finds himself surrounded by fauns, centaurs and Talking Beasts, and shakes their hands, kisses their heads, hugs their furry figures like a High King ought to, he can't help but smile. There is something so welcoming about everything and everyone, and despite the despairing predicament they are in, and the battles he knows he will have to fight, he feels hope.

Turning back one last time before he goes to his sisters, he sees Sairah, now looking away from him, standing like a powerful yet small monument to elegance and power, slowly dripping water from her hair and her elbows, and he realizes that in her eyes he finds understanding.

She understands him. With a look.

She isn't Aslan, but sheisn't normal either. He knows that she is older than she appears to be, but it doesn't frighten him.

It intrigues him. He makes a mental note to speak to her later.

**Please review! I love to know what you think!**


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